We hear a lot about self-care these days and for many people it conjures up images of getting mani-pedis and massages. That can be part of self-care but true self-care goes much deeper than that.

 

Radical self-care is about taking responsibility for your psychological, spiritual, mental, and physical needs. Sometimes self-care requires doing very difficult things like saying no when you usually say yes, asking for what you need, leaving a toxic relationship, and self-advocating for your health by going to the doctor.

 

In these instances self-care is less about self-indulgence and more about honoring your true needs. It's only by honoring your real needs that you can heal from emotional eating and move on to the next stage of your life. It's also hard to take care of others if you're coming from a place of lack and emptiness. 

 

Examples of psychological self-care are going to therapy, getting coaching, recovering from substance abuse or emotional eating, setting boundaries, and leaving or limiting toxic friendships and relationships with family. It may also mean leaving a toxic workplace, finding new friends that appreciate your true self,  bonding with a pet, and expressing love and affection.

 

Examples of spiritual self-care are going to church, setting up a meditation practice, reading spiritual literature, developing a prayer practice, connecting with nature, practicing mindfulness, etc.

Examples of mental self-care are pursuing educational courses to advance in your career, learning a new skill set, developing new hobbies, reading books, getting business coaching, and starting a new business.

 

Examples of physical self-care are exercising, making dietary changes, getting plenty of sleep, cooking for yourself, getting massages, mani-pedis, and going to the doctor.

 

Some of this self-care is hard and something that is easy to put off. I find that much of emotional eating is to compensate for the fact that many of the above listed things are missing from people’s lives. Overeating is often a smokescreen for much bigger issues and once those are addressed, emotional eating may loses its power over you.

 

I get many clients who are bored: their lives stagnant, and lacking joy, fun, and hobbies. Eating is a way to fill all those voids. Or they may be in an unfulfilling relationship or job and turning to food for comfort and a way to cope.  They may know they need to make changes but as long as they’re stuck in the dieting/overeating cycle nothing ever changes. Besides changing their relationship with food, they also need to make important changes in the way they are living their lives. 

 

I suggest taking a look at these areas of self-care and note what areas you need to work on and start with one or two things. After making progress with that, address another. Soon you will see big improvements in the quality of your life and your eating style may also change to reflect that. How you do food is how you do life!

 

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